Giving and Receiving
by Mark C
Summary: A Christmas caper is pulled and it’s up to Clark and an amazing friend to bring the evil doers to justice.


**Summary:** A Christmas caper is pulled and it's up to Clark and an amazing friend to bring the evil doers to justice.

**Disclaimer:** Smallville is owned by Warner Bros./DC comics and Spider-Man by Marvel comics.

**AN:** Special thanks go out to beta team extraordinaire **htbthomas** and **coltdancer** for their assistance.

* * *

**Giving and Receiving**

It was an early December evening in Metropolis and Clark did what he had been doing for a while now: flying. He was still working out the kinks but he had gained a lot more control over this ability since he first started. Clark wasn't speeding through the skies but taking a nice, leisurely flight through the city.

"You enjoying a nice easy-going flight, pal?" a voice questioned Clark, off to his left.

Clark had wondered if he would bump into his good friend while he was in the air. "Uh huh, I've almost got this flying thing down. What are you doing, webhead?"

Spider-Man was lucky that Clark wasn't going fast through the air so that he could keep up with web swinging.

"I gotta turn in some photos that I took for an article that Lois was working on and she wouldn't be all that happy if she didn't get the pictures for her story."

"Yeah, she likes everything right for her articles – despite her terrible spelling and grammar," Clark chuckled out.

Spider-Man laughed at that too and added, "So, I'm not the only one who notices that about Lois. Luckily, the _Planet_ has good spelling and grammar checking software or else the editor would be constantly pulling his hair out."

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

"Of course not, but the last one to the _Planet_ has to eat Lois' blueberry muffins."

At Spider-Man's last comment, they both shuddered at that thought. Lois had been trying her darnedest to bake something for the holidays and her first attempt was muffins. With just one bite, it was obvious that Lois needed to try again. They were _so_ awful that when they tried to pass them off to Clark's dog, Shelby, he turned his nose away after a brief sniff.

"You're on, Pete. On your mark, get set…" before Clark could finish, Peter was off like a shot. "Hey, that's not fair!"

_If you're going to play it that way, Mr. Webbypants_… Clark thought as he headed for the _Planet_.

Clark trailed the wallcrawler but not by much, until he flew into a web net that was just strong enough to throw him off balance and slow his speed. Of course, he knew who left that little present behind for him. Getting the sticky webbing off slowed him further but Clark knew he had enough speed to both catch and beat his webheaded friend. He ventured forth again but not a couple of blocks into his flight, poor Clark got caught in another web.

"Damn it!" Clark grunted out in frustration.

While swinging towards the paper, Spider-Man was able to take a quick look over his shoulder to see that Clark had once more become ensnared in his webbing. With a grin, he continued even faster towards the 'finish line'.

Cleaning himself off again, Clark readied himself to get back in the race. This time, he did a quick check to see if any more webbing would impede his progress. To his chagrin, every few hundred feet, there was more of the gossamer substance just waiting for him to get trapped in.

_I guess the only way around this is to fly above it_, mused Clark as he tried to win this impromptu race with Peter. _I should've thought of this sooner_…

It only took Clark roughly two minutes to get over to the _Daily Planet_ from his last forced stop. Unfortunately, he was too late. Spider-Man was perched upon his favorite spot since he'd been in Metropolis, the top of the _Daily Planet_ globe.

"What took you so long?" Spider-Man asked as he got off the globe and stood next to his friend.

"I could've gotten here sooner if it wasn't for some pesky webbing that was all over the place and trying to peel it off is really slowing me down," grumbled Clark good-naturedly.

"That was the only way I thought I stood a chance of beating you here. Plus, I've been webswinging around this neck of the woods long enough that I'm familiar with the surroundings as if it was New York. With as many places to use my webbing, it makes it that much easier and faster for me to get around."

"I'll give you that, this time," replied Clark with a smirk.

"So, am I forgiven?"

A nod of Clark's head confirmed that he was. Removing his mask, Peter dug into his web backpack and pulled out a change of clothes for himself. Moving over to a vent that was expelling warm air, he changed into his civvies. For Clark, it took but a moment for him to change and they both went inside.

Once in the newspaper's bullpen, the first thing the guys witnessed was Lois furiously working away on her computer with Chloe right beside her. It must have been an article they were both working on since Chloe had to constantly help Lois with her spelling. Peter and Clark had to chuckle at that.

In between writing and Chloe correcting her spelling/grammar, Lois noticed Peter coming over to her desk. "You got those shots ready, Peter?" she asked.

"Right here," Peter answered, waving a folder at her. "I also ran into someone who wanted to tag along as I made my way over here."

That's when both Chloe and Lois noticed that Clark was next to Peter.

"I see my two favorite reporters are working away, as usual," Clark happily said to the two female newshounds.

Lois then told Clark, "I'm happy to see you, Smallville, but we better get this article over to Perry before he…"

"Lane, Sullivan, when are you going to get that story you promised me… five minutes ago!" editor-in-chief Perry White yelled at them.

"You guys go and turn that article in, I'll wait for you here," Clark told the group as he took a seat in Lois' chair.

Lois quickly took the printed piece from the printer, accompanied by Peter and Chloe they headed toward Perry's office.

"Sorry for the delay, Perry, Lois needed some help with her part of story," Chloe mentioned to him.

"Alright, let's see what you got. Parker, you got the photo for it?" Perry asked the photog.

"Right here, Mr. White. Take your pick," Peter answered showing his boss the pictures.

Perry took a brief look and chose the one he wanted to go with the article. "Parker, how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Perry? My father was Mr. White. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes… Perry."

"Good, don't forget the Christmas party tomorrow night _and_ that other story I wanted you three to look into."

"We'll be there, Chief," Lois replied for them.

"Lane, you're just as bad as Parker. Don't call me Chief," he told the group as he motioned them to the door.

Lois answered with a, "Whatever…" which was followed by a very low, "Chief."

"I heard that, Lois, get back to work."

Perry's parting words were followed by a slamming of his office door.

"What was that all about?" Clark asked the group as they returned to the girls' desks.

"Just turning over our article – and Lois busting Perry's chops by calling him 'Chief'," Chloe informed her friend.

"You keep that up Lois, and Perry will probably fire you," stated Clark to his girlfriend.

"I don't think so," Lois confidently said. "Not unless he wanted to lose one of his top reporters..."

"Who can't spell to save her life," Chloe added with a chuckle which earned her a pointed glare from her cousin.

That also got Peter and Clark to snicker as well.

"Well, gang, I got an errand to run before I go pick up Mary Jane at the airport," Peter told the group as he prepared to leave.

"Do you need a ride there, Pete?" asked Lois.

"Thanks, Lois, I could use one."

"Before any of you go, I was wondering if you guys decided about coming to the farm for Christmas," Clark mentioned before Peter left them.

"You can count me in," Chloe swiftly responded. "But I have some things to do, too, so I'll see you guys later."

"What about you, Pete?" Clark asked.

"Sure, I think MJ would like that. It'll be nice to spend the holiday with some friends," answered Peter. "Aunt May is in Florida with MJ's Aunt Anna; there's no place that I would rather be than with you guys."

"You know, you guys can come out to the farm tonight if you want."

"I can bring them along with me after the _Planet's_ Christmas party," added Lois. "When does Mary Jane's plane come in?"

"In a couple of hours, so I'd best be on my way. I'll get back here, at least an hour before her plane arrives. Catch ya later," Peter replied and made his way out to go about his business.

_

* * *

__Daily Planet staff Christmas party_

"This is not totally unexpected at a paper's Christmas party," Mary Jane Watson mentioned as she witnessed the festive get together.

"When the alcohol is flowing, you never know what some people will do," Lois added as she witnessed a group of staffers singing Christmas carols rather loudly and off key.

"No, this isn't all that surprising," Peter agreed as he handed Mary Jane a glass of punch. "I remember stuff like this going on at the _Bugle_. There must be something about parties at a newspaper that drive the employees to cut loose."

"It's nice to take the edge off every once and a while," Lois stated matter-of-factly while accepting some egg nog from Clark.

Chloe added, "And it sure is funny to see some of the more serious members of the Planet's staff not acting to type."

Before another round of _Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas_ was sung amongst the staff, Perry interrupted the night's festivities.

"Listen up, people!" Perry shouted over the din, "There's been a robbery over at Metropolis National Bank. Lane, Sullivan, get down there and don't forget to take Parker with you. We need some photos. Where is Parker?"

"He's on his way down there already, Chief," Lois told her boss as she and Chloe prepared to leave.

"Good, why are you and Sullivan still here? Get your butts down there and bring back the story. Everyone who can still do something, I got assignments for all of you concerning this developing story."

As soon as Lois and Chloe left for the scene, Clark decided to see if he could be some help.

"I'm going to see if I can help Peter out," Clark whispered to MJ.

"Good, he could probably use your help. I'll be here when you get back," Mary Jane responded.

A quick, reassuring nod from Clark and he was then gone.

* * *

The sirens from several police cruisers helped Spider-Man decipher which direction the trouble was.

"Do you wanna get there a little faster?" a voice asked to the right.

Knowing that it was Clark, he gave his friend a nod. Clark let the webhead complete one last swing before getting a hold of both his friend's hands, and they sped off towards the bank. In mere moments, Clark had them at the scene of the crime. To their astonishment, they witnessed half a dozen men dressed as Santa Claus running from the bank, each carrying a large sack of loot. Each St. Nick appeared to be carrying semi-automatic weapons.

"Come on, you guys. It's time to load up the sleigh and get the hell back to the North Pole," the lead Santa declared to his helpers.

"I thought Santa was supposed to give, not receive? Well, that puts you on my naughty list," a voice told the thieving Santas just above their heads.

Spider-Man made his presence known by spinning a web to block their escape route down the street. They turned around to head the other way, but their path was blocked by another masked individual.

"You're surrounded, the police are on their way. Let's not make this any more difficult than it has to be," Clark told the thieves in an authoritative voice.

"I don't think so, tights boy. Get 'em, boys!" the leader ordered.

Two sets of Santas went after their opponents with guns blazing. Clark had no trouble at all since the bullets just bounced off him despite them stinging a bit. With a burst of speed that caught the evil-doers off guard, he was able to incapacitate them with a tap to the head.

Spider-Man, with the help of his spider-sense, dodged every shot fired at him.

"Now, that deserves a lump of coal. But since I don't have any, try this on for size," Spidey informed his attackers while firing his webbing to strip them of their guns.

Just before the wallcrawler could ensnare the crooks in webbing for the police, one of the Clauses flipped a switch on a small remote that he had just pulled from inside his Santa suit.

The lead Santa then sneered, "Merry Christmas, webhead."

Spider-Man's spider-sense tingled violently just before a pair of explosions rocked the area. The force of the explosion blew a pair of cars into the air.

Both Spider-Man and Clark sprung into action. The young Man of Steel caught a wayward vehicle by flying up and catching it. He then set it gently back on the street. Spider-Man used his webbing to ensnare the other one between a pair of street lights.

That was enough of a distraction for the holiday-themed thieves to make a run for it. Luckily, the group that Clark had knocked out was just coming around and didn't know what was going on. To make sure they didn't escape, Spider-Man heavily webbed them in place.

"What about the guys that got away?" Clark asked, wondering what they could do to 'round them up.

Spider-Man quickly replied, "While they were leaving the bank after the initial robbery, I was able get a put a couple of spider tracers on two of them."

The police had arrived, along with Chloe and Lois. Spider-Man told Clark to inform the girls what happened while he briefed the recently arrived Detective Sawyer. She was one of several officers that appreciated what he did for the people of Metropolis although it had taken him some time to win her over. This was one of things that was different from New York because the police there hardly trusted him at all.

Over the next hour, Chloe and Lois interviewed several eye witnesses to get their point of view of the robbery. A lot of what the duo gathered matched what Clark had already told them. He let them know that he was heading back to the _Planet_ and would wait for them there. They also attended an impromptu press conference that was conducted by Detective Sawyer. While this was going on, Peter was able to get some additional photos of the crime scene after he managed to obtain some from the inside as Spider-Man.

After a while, the trio had gathered enough information and photographs to head back to the newspaper. It took the writing duo of Lane and Sullivan a couple more hours to get their article completed and sent off to Perry with Peter's photos. Mary Jane and Clark sat at unoccupied desks and helped with some information gathering that was need for the article. Their piece would run in the early edition of the _Daily Planet_ the following morning.

With their job done, it was time to head to Smallville for Christmas. Peter, Mary Jane and Clark piled into Lois' car for the ride to Clark's while Chloe went over to her dad's home. Chloe did let Clark know that she and her dad would be over for Christmas day.

* * *

The following day, Clark and his guests took it easy while at the farm. Over breakfast, Peter told them about his meeting with Sawyer and that it related to what happened the previous night. She had told Peter's alter ego that something big was going to go down from a group that was calling themselves "Intergang". Lois added that information on this new threat was exactly what Perry had wanted them to look into.

"This could be our biggest story yet, especially if it involves Intergang," Lois stated after taking a nice sip of her coffee.

Peter added, boastfully, "Of course, your article would be even better with one of my photos."

Clark and Mary Jane laughed at Peter's comment and he too joined in.

Lois added with a slight smile, "Yeah, yeah."

Once they finished breakfast and the dishes, the four friends went about decorating the Kent home for Christmas. Clark and Peter went out for a tree while Lois and Mary Jane dressed up the home with an assortment of holiday decorations. By the time the boys returned with the tree, the girls had the house all fixed up for the holidays.

With the assistance of Mary Jane and Lois, they got the tree put up and decorated in no time. For most of the day, they got things ready for the approaching holiday. Whatever they didn't have food-wise they went into town to get.

The plan for Christmas was to have a turkey dinner with all the fixings. Of course, Lois had offered to cook the turkey but Peter and Clark abruptly exclaimed, "No!!"

"Why not?" a puzzled Mary Jane asked.

"If you don't want to spend Christmas in the bathroom or the infirmary – don't let Lois cook," Clark quietly informed her.

"Trust us on this, MJ. Lois' cooking isn't a pretty sight," added Peter.

"I heard that," Lois called out from the kitchen as she put some of the groceries they had gotten away.

The response that Lois got was laughter, especially from Clark and Peter.

Since she wouldn't be cooking, Lois would help in preparing vegetables for the dinner. For most of the day, they got everything prepared and even baked a couple of apple pies, without Lois' help. When all the food preparation was completed, they spent the rest of the day just hanging out.

For dinner on Christmas Eve, Clark went all the way to the Windy City to get them some Chicago-style pizza. A little bit of heat vision and the pizza was warmed to the original state that Clark had gotten it.

"So, what's on the agenda for this evening?" Peter asked as he finished off his last piece of pizza.

"Anything would be fine with me," Mary Jane mentioned as she snuggled up with Peter.

"Well, we can watch some of the all time favorite holiday films," suggested Lois. "We can watch _It's a Wonderful Life_, _Miracle on 34__th__ Street_, _White Christmas_…"

An idea suddenly came to Clark and he asked, "How about a sleigh ride? We could borrow neighbor's sleigh and the new fallen snow would make it a nice ride."

Lois, Peter and Mary Jane mulled it over for a bit and answered, "Why not?"

Peter went out with Clark to help get the sleigh ready while Lois and Mary Jane fixed a couple of thermoses of hot chocolate. They also got some blankets to keep themselves warm on the ride.

The Smallville countryside was beautiful this time of year, especially with the snow. Both sets of couples enjoyed the ride and were kept warm not just by the blankets but the piping hot cocoa.

"Take a look at that," Peter pointed out as he saw a set of tracks.

"Those are snowmobile tracks, Pete," Clark explained. "But it is kind of odd to see them around here because no one I know owns one."

"What's that beeping sound?" asked Lois curiously.

"Peter, isn't that your…" MJ started to say.

Peter searched his coat pocket and pulled out the object that was making the noise: his spider tracer tracking device.

Taking a quick look at the device, Peter realized that the device was pointing them in a particular direction.

"Those snowmobile tracks are in the same path that the signal is coming from. Can you get us closer, Clark?" Peter inquired.

With a nod from Clark, he took the sleigh in that particular route.

As they followed the path, a house came into view. Smoke from the chimney and lights signaled that someone was in there. Clark stopped the sleigh out of sight of whomever was in that domicile.

"Do you think you can check the place out?" Peter asked Clark.

Clark gave his friend a nod and did a quick check of the place. "There are some empty sacks lying about and several discarded Santa Claus suits."

"They have to be the ones that pulled that robbery in Metropolis," stated Peter as he took off his coat and sweater to reveal his Spider-Man costume underneath.

As quick as a flash, Clark was in costume as well. "You got a plan?" he asked.

"We need to find out if the money is in there with them and how many we're dealing with."

Using his X-ray vision, Clark found out how many that they would be dealing with. "I'd say roughly fifteen and the money's there in some kind of safe."

"I guess we'll have to teach them the true meaning of Christmas."

"And what's that?"

"It's better to give than receive. If they give us their loot, they won't have to receive a pounding."

Lois, Clark and Mary Jane chuckled at that.

"MJ, Lois, get in touch with the local police and try to get in touch with Detective Sawyer in Metropolis. I think she would like to get her hands on these bozos," Peter told the ladies as he slipped his mask on.

"You be careful, Peter," Mary Jane expressed to her boyfriend with a kiss to his masked cheek.

"I will," he replied.

Lois had the same thoughts we she said, "The same goes for you too, Smallville."

"I know," Clark answered.

The two heroes took off toward the dwelling, while Lois got on her cell to contact the police. Once that was completed, Lois wasn't about to let a story get away from her and she made a decision.

"With the cops on their way, I can't let this opportunity to add to the story that Chloe and I are working on. So, come on MJ, there's not much sense of you staying here by yourself," Lois told her friend as she headed toward the house with Mary Jane in tow.

* * *

"You know, I thought you would've told Lois to stay with the sleigh," Spider-Man mentioned to Clark, while they positioned themselves on the roof.

"Why bother, she's going to do whatever she wants especially if there's a story in it for her. I do hope Lois doesn't get Mary Jane into trouble," Clark replied.

"Me too, so let's get back to the task at hand and nab these guys. And I know the perfect way to do it."

Clark listened to the plan and was fascinated with how his arachnid friend would carry it out.

* * *

"Hey, do any of you guys hear something?" one of the men asked, believing he had heard something on the roof.

"Yeah, it's Santa Claus, you moron," a compatriot told him, laughing.

That laughter quickly died when a, resounding "Ho ho ho," came from the fireplace.

"What the…?"

Out from the fireplace came a figure all tarnished with ashes and soot. This visitor was accompanied by someone who was also covered with the same chimney debris.

"Merry Christmas, gentlemen, I'm Spider Claus. My helper and I are here to give each of you a present. A one way ticket to jail," Spider-Man told the criminals with Clark by his side.

* * *

Looking through a window, Lois and Mary Jane witnessed their boyfriends' entrance through the chimney.

"I wonder what they're going to do to gather all of those guys up," Lois pondered.

Before Mary Jane could reply, the sound of a gun being cocked was heard behind them.

"Damn," a frustrated Lois said as she and Mary Jane raised their hands above their heads.

* * *

Just before Spider-Man or Clark could do anything, Lois and Mary Jane were brought in.

"I believe you are wrong, webhead," the man who had Lois told the heroes while holding a gun to her head.

"Alright, if you want to play it that way, then…" Spider-Man was saying when he swiftly sprayed some webbing at the face of the one who had Lois.

This gave Lois the opportunity to elbow her captor in the gut and turn around to punch him in the jaw, knocking him out.

With that distraction, Mary Jane was able to free her self by mule kicking her captor in the groin and followed that up with a roundhouse kick.

"I'm a woman who lives in New York – we need to know how to defend ourselves, buddy," Mary Jane informed her unconscious foe.

Peter had to smile under his mask because of how proud he was of MJ. Clark gave Lois a wink in appreciation. He knew how well Lois could handle anything but it was always gratifying to see her take care of herself in these kinds of situations.

Now, it was the guys' turn. Clark used a combination of speed and strength to subdue several of the criminals. Spider-Man did the same with his webbing and spider-like abilities. A few minutes later, the whole gang had been ensnared in webbing.

It wasn't long after that that both the Smallville and Metropolis police arrived on the scene. Members of both departments gathered the thieves up but it was made a little difficult due to all the webbing. What made it all worth while was that the young Man of Steel and Spider-Man were thanked by Detective Sawyer for their assistance in getting the scumbags off the streets.

Once that was taken care of and they went back to the Kent farm, Lois got in touch with Chloe and the two went to work on their story. Luckily, Peter had used a camera cleverly attached to his belt to get some shots of what happened and was able to print out some very good photos. When Lois finished, she emailed what she had to Chloe for her to add to it along with Peter's pictures to send the completed article off to Perry.

Now that all the excitement was at an end, the four friends settled down for a much deserved winter's nap.

* * *

Christmas morning came and the quartet was awakened with a wonderful smell. They made their way downstairs and were greeted with an amazing sight.

"Good morning, all of you," Martha Kent warmly greeted.

"Mom…?" Clark curiously answered.

Two other women were there that weren't really known to Clark or Lois but Peter and Mary Jane knew them very well indeed.

"Aunt May?" an astonished Peter asked.

Mary Jane followed with, "Aunt Anna?"

"Merry Christmas," replied both May and Anna.

Before the women could explain anything, the four young adults greeted them all with warm hugs. After all the embracing, it was revealed how they all had gotten there. Martha told Clark how Peter convinced her to wrap up whatever business she had in DC so that she could spend the holidays with Clark. That got Peter a nice big hug and pat on the back from Clark, which made all the women present smile.

May and Anna told them it was Clark who convinced them to come to Smallville to spend time with their nephew and niece and that it had been Lois who arranged their plane tickets to get to Smallville. It was just luck that Martha, May and Anna met up at the airport. Peter returned Clark's earlier embrace with one of his own and then gave one to Lois. MJ then followed Peter and gave both of her friends a hug too.

After having breakfast, they all pitched in to fix Christmas dinner. With seven people working, it didn't take long for everything to get fixed up and in the oven. Chloe and her father were the first to arrive. She told her friends that Jimmy wished them a Merry Christmas and that he would try to see if he could come down for New Year's. The final guest was none other than Perry White. Along with a bottle of wine, he brought with him the latest edition of the _Daily Planet_. On the front page was the story that Lois and Chloe put together the night before and it was accompanied by one of Peter's pictures. All their family and friends were very proud of their accomplishment.

"I think this turned out to be one amazing Christmas," Clark said as he and Lois set the .table.

"It has at that – and there's one thing I need to give you," Lois told him.

"What's that?"

Lois brought Clark closer and gave him a passionate kiss.

"Merry Christmas, Clark."

"Merry Christmas, Lois."

**The End**

* * *

**AN:** I hope you enjoyed this Christmas tale and please feel free to leave a review to let me know how much you did like it. Constructive criticism is welcome but no flames. 


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